Plenty of options, including Derek Carr, available to Texans tonight

With the Texans essentially already on the clock with the 33rd pick in the NFL draft at 6 p.m. tonight, coach Bill O’Brien says lots of options are on the table.

It’s assumed the team will draft a quarterback next, but O’Brien wasn’t tipping his hand in a conversation following Jadeveon Clowney’s press conference.

It doesn’t sound like he’s married to one particular quarterback, either.

“Anything can happen,” he said. “If somebody were to approach Rick (about trading into the spot), I’m sure he’d listen. I think there are four, five, six quarterbacks on the board who are really good players. We have them valued at certain spots. If they’re there, they’ll be part of the discussion along with other players that are there at that spot.”

O’Brien insisted the Texans wouldn’t hesitate to draft Derek Carr, David Carr’s younger brother. David Carr was the Texans’ first draft pick ever, of course, but he struggled to establish himself as a front-line player for six seasons before being released. He spent several years elsewhere as a backup but is currently out of football.

“I don’t think (the past) has anything to do with it,” O’Brien said. “I think you look at each individual person. You try to grade that guy as best you can. You ask yourself, can he come in here and be successful in our system? He’s definitely in our conversation. He’s a good football player. He’s an accurate passer. He’s got good size. We don’t think about what happened seven years ago.”

Asked if Carr had verbalized concerns about returning to Houston because of his brother’s ultimately strained relationship with Texans fans, O’Brien said, “I try to keep those kinds of conversations between myself and the guy, but he hasn’t expressed any reservations that I know of. We’d bring him in here, welcome him and treat him as his own person. He wasn’t here when his brother was on the team. I wasn’t here. It’s not important.”

Although they’ve already taken a marquee defensive player, O’Brien wouldn’t dismiss the possibility they’d look for help in the D-line tonight. The Texans only have six veterans on the roster at the position currently.

“The three-day minicamp (this week) helped us look at that position,” he said. “No pads, but we saw how they move and how they learn and that was pretty good for us. We think we’re decent there with what we have, but there are a lot of (defensive linemen) on the board that will be in the conversation tonight.”